Felting and recessing machine



J. K; SHAW FEL'I'ING AND RECESSINQ MACHINE July 8 1924.

2 Sheets-Shook 1 Original Filed 000,25, 1920 4 JZ/znKS/za/w,

a as- July 8, 1924. I 1,500,209

I J. K. SHAW FELTING AND RECESSING MACHINE Original Filed 0st. 23 1920 2 Shaw-Sheet e I Patented July 8, 1924.

pointed out inthe claims.

UNITED STATES 1,500,209 PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN K. SHAW, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

FELTING AND RECESSING MACHINE Application filed October 23, 1920, Serial No. 419,047. Renewed January 20, 1923.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN'K. SHAW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Felting and Recessing Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to felting machines especially adapted to produce-fiber boards and has for its object to provide a machine of this character which will be simple in construction, comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, and more efiicient in action than those heretofore proposed.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the novel details of construction and combinations of parts more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularly Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification in which like numerals designate like parts in all the views:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic longitudinal vertical sectional view of one form of machine made in accordance with this inven tion;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing a slightly modified form of the invention;

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 5 is a development in plan of the drum surface of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a plan view of a portion of the belt shown in Figure 2;

Figure 7 is an enlarged diagrammatic view illustrating the plaster holding recesses after their forming members have been removed from the board; and

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 7, showing said recesses after their torn out ed es have been smoothed down.

ferring more particularly to Figure 1, 1 designates any suitable tank or receptacle, mounted upon suitable supports 2, and provided at or near one end with the well 3,

into which projects a supply pipe 4. A plurality of bafll'es 5 extend substantially the full width of the tank 1 at the outlet of the said well, andthe bottom 6 of the said tank is curved downwardly as shown, to accommodate a drum or roller 8, mounted upon a shaft 9 journalled to the side walls 10 of the tank 1 and adapted to be driven from any suitable source of power, not shown.

The drum 8 is preferably composed of a plurality of headers or spiders 11 secured to the said shaft 9 and having their peripheries flanged as at 12-. The said spiders are jointed together by the laterally extendin staves or slats 13,,suitably secured to the flanges 12 in spaced relation as shown, and the outer circumference of the said slats is covered with one or more layers of foraminous material, such as the wire cloth 14.

J ournalled in the side walls 10, above and somewhat to.'the rear of the drum 8,

is a back-roll 15, also power driven in any suitable manner, not shown, around which passes the endless foraminous belt 16, which also passes around the front roll 17, as will be clear. from the drawings. 18 represents guide roll for the said belt, and 19 a roll for maintaining the belt under suitable tension. v

' The foraminous belt: 16 is preferably' ing 23 just abovethe said rolls 22, through which the waste water or other liquid which passes, through the belt 16-is discharged into a trough 24, while 25 indicates a slrnilar trough for conveying away the waste liquid from the drum 8. A seal 26 of leather, rubber or other flexible material is provided 'just below the roll 17 and bears against the under surface of the belt 16, thereby pre venting the escape of fibers around the said roll, and a similar seal 27 bears against the drum 8 and prevents the escape of fibers therefrom, as will be readily apparent.

A stock mixture composed of from, say,

1 to 5 parts of cellulose fibrous material,

such, for example, as wood pulp tailings, and from 99 to 95 parts of water, is fed through the pipe 4into the tank 1 and well 3. The level of this stock mixture is maintained substantially as shown somewhat higher than the lower run of the belt 16, so that a constant head or pressure is maintained against the lower surface of the said belt. The stock 20 after entering the well 3, passes around the ba-fiies 5 which agitate the same and assist in securing a complete suspension of each individual fiber in the conveying liquid.

As the stock mixture reaches the foraminous surfaces 14 and 16, the water will readily pass therethrough, while the fibers carried by the said water will be caught and held thereby. Owing to the relatively high dilution of the stock above mentioned, 1ts velocity through the machine is quite high.

Power being applied to the drum 8 and the roll 15, the surfaces 14 and 16 will travel in the direction of the arrows in Figure 1, and the two layers of fibers deposited upon the said surfaces will converge toward the point 30. As the two layers approach each other, additional fibers from the stock mixture will entangle themselves therewith, thoroughly felting the layers into a single integral sheet or board 31. This said sheet is lightly pressed as it passes the tangent points of the drum 8 and roll 15 to expel a portion of its water, after which it passes to a traveling table or conveyer 32, where it is cut into suitable lengths and later dried.

If necessary or desirable a. suitable seal similar to the angle bar 21 may be provided at the ends of the drum 8 for the foraminous member 14, as will be readily apparent. The wire cloth material 14 is carried by the drum 8, is provided at intervals with pieces 40 preferably made of leather, or

some similar material, and which preferably have the same cross sectional shape as the pieces 41 illustrated in Figure 4, to be presently described. Said pieces 40 being immersed in a mixture of fibers and water, and being firmly secured to the foraminous surface 14, the individual fibers are deposited therearound, onto said foraminous surface 14, with the result that the board 31 is formed with said pieces 40 extending into its body portion. v

As said pieces 40 continue to revolve with the drum 8 they have to leave the board 31, and they thereupon tear their way out of the same, thus raising considerable lip like protuberances 42 from the surface 44 on the board, all as will be clear from Figure 7 of the drawings.

In the meantime, the body portion of the board 31 having been formed upon said pieces 40, there are left in said body portion when said pieces 40 are torn therefrom, the hollow spaces or recesses 43, best shown in Figures 7 and 8. The said board 31 with these said spaces 43 therein, travels toward the right, as seen in Figure 1 between the compression rollers 46 and 47, whereupon said rollers will press down said torn out projections 42 so that the latter will form the walls 45, Figure 8, and the recesses 43 will assume the undercut shape illustrated in said figure.

It results from this that the board 31 will have plaster holding grooves or indentations therein, immediately upon coming from the felting machine.

The form of the invention shown in Figure 2 is substantially the same as that illustrated in Figure 1, except that the drum 8 and roll 15 are raised relative to the rest of the machine, thereby somewhat inclining the belt 16, as will be clear from said figure, but instead of placing the projections 40 on the drum 8, continuous strips 41 are placed upon the belt 16, as best shown in Figure 4. These said continuous strips 41 are preferably made of leather as mentioned above, and the fibrous material of the board 31 is deposited therearound in the same manner as in the case of Figure 1, above described, so that when said strips 41 are tornv out of the material of the board, continuous hollows or recesses 43 are provided in said board, which likewise have the torn out or ragged and rough edges 42.

These said edges 42 are likewise smoothed down by the rollers 46 and 47 in the manner just described above. Of course, it is immaterial whether the continuous strips 41 be placed upon the belt 16, or upon the drum 8, for continuous grooves 43 may be made in the board 31 by either means, at will. It is further evident that a large variety of dispositions of the members 40 and 41 may be adopted Without departing from this invention.

It will now be clear that in both of the forms of the invention I have provided a tank having a well adapted to maintain a hydrostatic head or pressure; a pair of traveling foraminous surfaces upon'which the fibers from the stock mixture are adapted to felt to form separate layers, and that these said surfaces converge so that the said separate layers may be intimately knitted together by additional fibers from the stock mixture to produce a single homogeneous sheet orhoard' of any desired thickness; that the said traveling surfaces are in each in stance provided with suitable seals to prevent the escape and wastage of fibers therefrom; andthat suitable means are provided for conveying away the water or other liquid vehicle after it has passed through the said surfaces.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction as well as the arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefore I do not wish to be limited to the above disclosure except as may be required by the claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a felting machine for making wall boards, the combination of means comprising a foraminous traveling surface having an undercut projection. for producing a fibrous mass with an empty space having a projecting edge torn out of its body portion; and means to press down said edge, substantially as described.

2. In a felting machine the combination of a traveling surface provided with an undercut projecting member; means for depositing a mass of fibers onto said surface around,-under and over said member; and means to compress said mass into a finished board provided with a hollow space in its surface, substantially a described.

3. In a felting machine the combination of a traveling foraminous surface provided with an undercut projection; means for depositing a mass of fibers around and over said projection; means for compressing said mass into a partially formed board while said rojection is embedded therein, and then form ly removing said projection therefrom; and means to further compress the surfaces of said board and to finish the same, substantially as described.

4. In a felting machine the combination of a traveling foraminous surface provided with a plurality of undercut pro ections; means for depositing a mass of fibers around and over said projections; means for compressing said mass into a partially formed board while said projections are embedded therein and then forcibly removing said projections therefrom; and means to further compress the surfaces of said board and to finish the same, substantially as described.

5. In a felting machine the combination of a pair of foraminous traveling surfaces converglng toward a polnt; aslot forming pro ection carried by one of said surfaces;

. means for depositing a mass of fibers on said guiding the partly finished board in such a path that said projection will be forcibly removed therefrom; and mean for again, compressing said board, substantially as described.

6. In a felting machine the combination of a pair of traveling foraminous surfaces converging toward and from a point; a slot forming projection carried by one of said surfaces to and from said point; means for depositing. a mass of fiber on said surfaces and embedding said projection as said mass is carried by said surfaces toward and beyond said point to compress said mass into a partially finished board; means for guiding the partly finished board in such a path after being compressed that said projection will be forcibly removed therefrom; and means for again compressing said board, substantially as described.

7. In a felting machine the combination of a traveling foraminous surface carrying a plurality of slot forming projections; means to deposit a mass of board forming fibers on said surface and embedding said projections in the body of said mass; means for compressing said mass with said projections embedded therein and for moving the compressed mass in a path different from that of said projections, whereby'the latter are forcibly removed from said mass; and means for further compressing said mass, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

JOHN K. SHAW. 

